KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) – Burundi’s government is asking Burundians to donate money to pay for elections as some foreign donors warn of aid cuts if President Pierre Nkurunziza runs for a third term, a presidential spokesman said Wednesday.
Demonstrators were in the streets again Wednesday, holding leafy tree branches as peace symbols, confronting soldiers and demanding that Nkurunziza withdraw from the elections.
Gervais Abayeho told The Associated Press that “a political vacuum in this country … would be worse that a coup d’état,” and that elections will happen whether or not Western governments help. He said the government has already set aside money for the June 26 elections but needs Burundians to give more for elections.
The president’s effort to extend his stay in power has sparked almost daily street protests in which at least 20 people have been killed and at least 471 injured. An opposition party leader was gunned down on Saturday. The turmoil sparked a failed coup against Nkurunziza by some senior military officers.
In New York, the U.N. Security Council president said after an emergency meeting Wednesday that “the predominant opinion” of members is that Burundi’s elections should not take place as scheduled in late June.